Cassandre Beaugrand and Beth Potter set for another epic title tussle in The 'Gong

The highs and lows, swings and roundabouts of a frankly un-put-downable post-Olympic season have set up what looks to be one of the most engrossing Championship Finals since… Beaugrand’s immense comeback in Torremolinos? Potter’s imperious run in Pontevedra? GTB vs Flora in Abu Dhabi? Comparisons, the thief of joy.

So with two wins and a silver each to their name for their 2925 points tallies, the difference is that Beaugrand’s score comes from just three qualifying race finishes in 2025, while Potter has put together five top-5 finishes and an 8th place. That the two wins have come in her last two races means that the Brit has momentum on her side, but will be taking nothing for granted against the reigning Olympic and World Champion who she hasn't beaten since Pontevedra. 

Read who-needs-what-to-win here & watch the women's Championship Finals Wollongong on 19 October, with coverage from 1.40pm and the race starting 2pm local time, on TriathlonLive.tv. 


#1 Beth Potter (GBR) 
2925 points 
WTCS 2025: 2-8-3-5-1-1
After running her way to silver in Yokohama, Potter missing the front bike pack in Alghero proved pivotal in finishing off the podium for the first time since Cagliari 2023. That incredible run of results may have come to an end, but normal service was quickly restored with bronze in Hamburg. What has catapulted the Brit into contention for a second world title shot, however, has been her last two races. 

Chasing down Taylor Spivey in Karlovy Vary was classic Potter. A minute back out of T2, it was at the halfway mark of the final lap that she caught and passed her rival before taking the tape by more than 10 seconds. In Weihai, she was in a better place to attack off the bike, looking back in disbelief at how quickly she gapped nearest rival Lisa Tertsch early into lap one. Potter will wear the number one on Sunday by virtue of her higher World - rather than Series - ranking... could that pontoon position be crucial? Two wins from her last two, then, albeit with no Beaugrand on either start list. One huge Olympic distance race to come. 

#2 Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA)
2925 points
WTCS 2025: DNF-1-2-1
As is the right of any Olympic Champion, Beaugrand has picked and chosen her way to the blue carpets in 2025. Underlining her versatility, a big super-sprint home win at the Lievin Indoor World Cup was quickly followed by the equally short and sharp E-Triathlon World title in London. It was in Yokohama that her win streak came to a dramatic end, sliding out in pouring rain and coming off hard. The first time in over a year the French star had looked fallible. 

That made the bounce-back in Alghero just a fortnight later all the more impressive. Hammering to latch on to the front pack out of T1, sticking the bike breakaway and running almost the entire 10km solo to the gold, Beaugrand was back, the doubters – herself included – went quiet. Edged out to silver by Periault in Hamburg, it was back on top and rising to the challenge of another big home race at WTCS French Riviera. Operation Wollongong since then, back-to-back world titles – and with the minimum of results possible - would be a huge achievement. 

#3 Jeanne Lehair (LUX) 
2716 points (-209)
WTCS 2025: 7-1-7-7-2-4
Breaking up a run of three 7th-place finishes was a career-first WTCS win in Yokohama for Jeanne Lehair, narrowly holding off Potter and Tertsch to seal the win in treacherous conditions that had taken out Beaugrand on the bike. The third-fastest run in the heat of Alghero was more of a yardstick of where her powers were than anything that could impact the podium after missing the front pack, and after failing to hit those heights in Hamburg, it was on to home-from-home in the French Riviera. 

Taking the race to Cassandre Beaugrand almost paid dividends, too, the champion having to dig in deeper than she had all season to see off the challenge, silver another feather in what was becoming a brilliant season for Luxembourg’s finest. Add in an impressive fourth having come off hard on the bike in Karlovy Vary, then a supertri Series title by way of Wollongong warm up, and Lehair looks set for her biggest season yet. Coming in with the pressure off her shoulders, Wollongong could be time to shine once more. 

#4 Lisa Tertsch (GER)  
2636 points (-289)
WTCS 2025: 1-3-6-9-13-3-2
Fourth overall last year, fourth going into the finals this year, Lisa Tertsch started the year in flying form, heading up a German podium sweep in the Abu Dhabi season opener. Only worth 750 points coming in before a rule change that made sprint distance races worth the same 1000 points as Olympic distance, it is actually over the longer distances that she has performed best in 2025. 

Bronze in Yokohama and Karlovy Vary, silver in Weihai, Tertsch is the only athlete in contention to have lined up at every WTCS this year, a mid-season lull in results in Alghero, Hamburg and French Riviera quickly forgotten with a return to late-season success. Tertsch has only beaten Beaugrand once in a race they have both finished, the Quarteira European Cup that followed the storm-induced cancellation of WTCS Abu Dhabi last year. It will surely take a huge performance from the 26-year-old to do so here. 

#5 Leonie Periault (FRA)
2587 points (-338)
WTCS 2025: 4-30-5-1-3-5
The fifth and final woman to win a Series gold in 2025 is France’s Periault. Back to her best after struggling for consistency in recent campaigns, dropping a 31’45 10km at the start of the year in Cannes showed what she is capable of down the closing stages of a triathlon. 

There have been times when she has found herself too far back out of the water to be able to deploy that power – see WTCS Yokohama for a case in point – but out-gunning Beaugrand in Hamburg and then searing past another teammate Emma Lombardi in French Riviera to bronze were both pure Periault. Could be a major player in the race outcome and a serious Series podium contender. 


THE OTHER PLAYERS
Third overall in 2021, fourth the following two years, Taylor Spivey has been the model of consistency at the top level without fully cracking the golden code. The American could almost taste her first Series win in Karlovy Vary before Beth Potter swooped in with 1km to go on the run, but silver on a tough course showed what might still be to come in Wollongong. 

Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) has truly found her form, European Champion over sprint and Olympic in 2025 and a career-best Series fourth in Hamburg, the swim and the run have been her weapons. Both Bianca Seregni (ITA) and Tanja Neubert (GER) have hit their first podiums at the top level this term and the Italian's swim could be an early race-changer, Diana Isakova (AIN) has three top 10 finishes this campaign, and never discount Emma Lombardi (FRA), who has only two scoring races to her name this year - 4th in French Riviera and 8th in Hamburg - but looked in form before a crash took her out in Karlovy Vary. 

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